U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) responds to Vice President JD Vance after Vance reportedly urged Republicans to invoke El-Sayed’s name while campaigning. El-Sayed argues that Republicans are focusing on political attacks instead of addressing issues such as gas prices, grocery costs and access to healthcare.
Watch El-Sayed’s response as the Michigan Senate candidate challenges Vance and the GOP over the issues he says matter most to American voters.
#AbdulElSayed #JDVance #DonaldTrump #GOP #MichiganSenate #MichiganPolitics #GasPrices #GroceryPrices #Healthcare #USPolitics
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Watch El-Sayed’s response as the Michigan Senate candidate challenges Vance and the GOP over the issues he says matter most to American voters.
#AbdulElSayed #JDVance #DonaldTrump #GOP #MichiganSenate #MichiganPolitics #GasPrices #GroceryPrices #Healthcare #USPolitics
~HT.410~PR.462~ED.420~GR.506~VG.HM~
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NewsTranscript
00:01Groceries, how hard it is to see a doctor, the fact that our kids' schools still look
00:04like they did 30 years ago.
00:06And so long as JD doesn't want to talk about things that actually matter, we're gonna watch,
00:11as in our state, we're gonna, you know, we are going to build the kind of movement that
00:18they have not seen for a very long time.
00:20Look, I had an empty podium debate.
00:22Well, we only have a few minutes, but we can start with Manu, and then, um...
00:29Uh, alright, you guys all ready?
00:30Yeah.
00:31You ready?
00:32Make sure you're ready, man.
00:33I know y'all had to wait a long time for this, man, I want to make sure you have
00:35a good camera,
00:36like, you know?
00:37As long as you make news.
00:38My guy didn't get to have lunch, it's hot outside, I'm so sorry.
00:41It's all good.
00:41Y'all had to wait, like, for me?
00:43That makes me sad.
00:44Get some good lunch.
00:45The last time we were here, we were 11, so...
00:48Well, we're...
00:49Listen, you know, at the end of the day, it's about unlocking a broken system.
00:53Can I ask you, since, um, J.D. Vance was here yesterday, and he was meeting with Republicans,
00:59and he actually had advised Republicans to invoke your name if he says that their candidates
01:04are not crazy enough.
01:06He said, run against Abdul El-Sayed, tie him to your Democratic opponent.
01:10What do you say about that strategy?
01:12They clearly think that you will make their jobs easier.
01:15They'll talk about anything not to have to talk about gas, or groceries, or whether
01:21or not you can see a doctor, or the ability to send your kid to a good, dignified school.
01:27So, yeah, if the whole Republican caucus meeting is not about what we can do to actually make
01:31lives better, but instead what we should talk about so that we can change the subject from
01:35what lives are because of their policies, fine.
01:38Talk about me.
01:39But you know what I'm going to be talking about?
01:41Gas, groceries, how hard it is to see a doctor, the fact that our kids are going to be
01:45in schools still look like they did 30 years ago.
01:48And so long as JD doesn't want to talk about things that actually matter, we're going to
01:52watch, as in our state, we're going to, you know, we are going to build the kind of movement
01:59that they have not seen for a very long time.
02:01Look, I had an empty podium debate.
02:04And I was thinking, am I going to debate an empty podium or an empty suit?
02:07Because at the end of the day, it's the same story.
02:09Mike Rogers has nothing to say, and he's stuck between a rock and a hard place because the
02:14only thing he can do is apologize for the terrible policies that Donald Trump is enacting.
02:21The fact that we have to pay $5,619 on average because of a ridiculous trade war with Canada.
02:26The fact that we're paying $1,650 because of the Iran War.
02:30And that's all coming out of pockets.
02:31They don't have very much money in them because they've been so busy busting unions and making
02:34life harder for folks.
02:35So, yeah, go ahead.
02:36Talk about it if you want to.
02:36But do you need to shift more to the middle, do you think, in this general election even,
02:40you know, disavowing Hassan Pike or shifting to the middle?
02:42Do you need to do that stuff?
02:43You know, Manu, like, this conversation is so far removed from what people are talking
02:48about.
02:48Every day in Michigan, people sit at their kitchen tables and ask, how am I going to make this
02:53work next month?
02:54That's not a middle, right, left issue.
02:57That's a basic affordability issue.
03:01So, standing up to corporations, taking on the power of those corporations to pick
03:05your pocket, to buy off politicians, those are issues everybody cares about.
03:08That's what I'm talking about.
03:09But people care about what Hassan Piker was campaigning with you.
03:15They really don't care about that.
03:16Well, they've been asking.
03:16They really don't.
03:17Like, I've been all over Michigan.
03:19You know, nobody asked me that question.
03:20Y'all like to ask me.
03:21You people like to care.
03:22But, you know, I'm in D.C. today, and I understand that that's an exciting conversation
03:25in D.C., but I would encourage you to come to places like Michigan and have conversations
03:29with people.
03:30I promise you, they don't think that a streamer in California is raising the price of their
03:34gas or their groceries.
03:35You know who's doing that?
03:35The guy right down there, who lives in the White House, he's doing it.
03:39So, people really, really care about why Donald Trump seems to be interested in fighting
03:43a trade war we have no business fighting, or fighting a hot war we have no business fighting.
03:46That's what people are talking about.
03:47Well, then on that, on day one, what does a Senator El-Sayed do to start lowering the cost?
03:53What's your solution?
03:53Ban Citizens United so that corporations can't buy politicians.
03:57Pass the PRO Act so everybody has access to a union to raise wages.
04:00Start empowering the FTC so that it can break up huge corporations that have consolidated
04:04power to suppress your wages and raise your prices.
04:07Get to work on guaranteeing health care through Medicare for All, which is the single biggest
04:12budget line in most budgets.
04:13And then just to the questions.
04:15One, I mean, we're seeing Mike Rogers, who's outreach to Democrats, on issues that you're
04:18running on that you're talking about.
04:20What do you see resonating most with those Republican voters that you're also going to
04:23need?
04:24And the second question, too, as well.
04:25You know, obviously money's a big part of this race.
04:28You know, did this discussion about how much will be invested in your race come up at
04:31all?
04:31Especially as you see, like, MAGA, Inc. and then Elon Musk's PAC kick up their spending?
04:36They're proving my point.
04:37Money in politics.
04:39That's exactly the problem.
04:40You've got a really interesting right here.
04:43I'm just trying to, like, put them off here.
04:46Sorry.
04:48That was your nightmare right there.
04:50You good?
04:51Yeah, I'm good.
04:52Anyway.
04:52So, proving the point about money in politics, right?
04:55That's exactly what they're doing.
04:56They don't have a message.
04:57They're just going to spend more money on a trash message, right?
05:00I don't know what MAGA, Inc. is going to run ads on.
05:03But if they want to run ads talking about Donald Trump's record, thank you.
05:06I'll consider that an in-kind contribution to my campaign.
05:09The reality of it, though, is that we are watching in this moment as people are struggling
05:15for lack of access to the basic things.
05:18And when I hear from Republican voters, they're telling me, hey, you know, they ran and said
05:22they were America first.
05:24And now we're, what, Venezuela, Iran, can't seem to get us out of it, tariff war with
05:29Canada.
05:30That's not America first.
05:31But folks look at me, they say, you really are America first, and I'm going to support
05:34you.
05:36Health care.
05:37They're watching their premiums go up 15% every single year, and they can't do anything
05:41about it.
05:42I want health care.
05:43I had a guy come up to me and say, I voted for Donald Trump three times, but I'm voting
05:46for you.
05:46I said, why?
05:47I said, well, because I think you really want me to have health care.
05:49I really want you to have health care.
05:50But do you need Chuck Schumer's PAC to come in and spend the kind of money that MAGA, Inc.
05:54is spending?
05:55Are you meeting with him and asking him for those kind of resources?
05:57Yeah, we're having really productive conversations about what it takes to win.
06:01But, you know, the reality of this is that I think all of us would like to get to work
06:05on the first day of my time in office in 2027 to bring down the cost of these elections.
06:13It's a crazy thing.
06:14They're going to spend, what, like a third of a billion dollars on one U.S. Senate seat?
06:17I came through a primary and spent $70 million to beat me.
06:20That's insane money.
06:21Think about what $70 million could mean for any community in Michigan.
06:25And the fact that we're spending that on elections is insane.
06:28It's crazy work.
06:29And it shouldn't have to, it shouldn't be this hard.
06:31We shouldn't have to be spending this much money.
06:32And you're meeting with Tumor today.
06:33We'll go to Kevin and then Andy.
06:35What exactly was, I mean, to skeptics that may have been meeting with you today, there's
06:38the, one of those bugs are on here.
06:40Let me pull it off of me.
06:41It's on your right neck.
06:43There you go.
06:45This is an interesting place where we show us here.
06:48In terms of your chance to talk to lawmakers today.
06:51Are those Rogers books?
06:52Sorry.
06:53Go ahead.
06:53What was your message to them?
06:55What were you trying to convey to them?
06:57Anyone that might be skeptical within the Democratic caucus on the Hill right now?
07:01We have an opportunity to take back those gavels.
07:04We have an opportunity to win the Senate majority.
07:06And when we do, we can hold Donald Trump accountable for all of the things he's perpetrated
07:10upon the American public and Michiganders.
07:13And we have the opportunity to start legislating on the things that, you know, all of us,
07:17whether we're still running like me or folks who ran and won, are here to do.
07:21And, you know, we are united in so much more than people like to point to that seems to
07:27divide Democrats.
07:28We're united in the idea that people should have more health care.
07:31We're united in the idea that we should breathe clean air and drink clean water.
07:33We're united in the idea that you should have the right to a union.
07:36We're united in the idea that we should fight for reproductive rights.
07:39We're united in the idea that we want less money in politics.
07:43These are the things that bring us together and we have an opportunity to actually get to work to address
07:46them.
07:47More broadly, like what do you need out of Washington to help you get across the finish line?
07:52Well, look, you know, if Elon Musk or Donald Trump are out here trying to spend yet more money,
07:58I certainly am hoping for future colleagues to support us.
08:01But, you know, we need solidarity on the notion that we really can take the majority back.
08:06And that pathway runs through Michigan.
08:08And so just honored to share conversations with colleagues who are here doing the work and looking forward to be
08:16able to win the majority for Michiganders.
08:21And I say that honestly because Michigan right now is the epicenter of struggle when it comes to this tariff
08:26policy, just to name one.
08:27When it comes to the cost of gas and groceries, people are struggling.
08:31And so, yes, we need to win in Michigan so that Michigan has a senator who's going to come and
08:35fight.
08:35But that also means winning the Senate majority so we can actually pass the legislation that we are running.
08:40We want money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all.
08:42I know that we're united in the goal of being able to actually go and fight on behalf of the
08:48folks who elect us all.
08:50Given the recent news this week about the capabilities of AI, do you think that that needs to become a
08:55bigger element of your campaign?
08:57And then kind of conversing on that, what do you think the Senate and Congress needs to be doing more
09:01of to kind of counteract recent discoveries with AI?
09:05That's a real issue I have been talking with folks about.
09:08And we didn't just start talking about AI.
09:10You've been covering my campaign for a minute.
09:11We put out a terms of engagement on data centers back in January in the primary.
09:16We put out our AI under democracy plan before the primary was out.
09:22And we're still talking about they offer blueprints to actual action.
09:26And I think we need action.
09:28We needed action yesterday.
09:29We need it now.
09:30I agree with the idea that we need to take a full pause at the frontier of research.
09:33And I also agree that we need to rethink the incentives that are driving AI legislation.
09:38There needs to be AI no-goes.
09:39AI shouldn't be able to fire weapons.
09:40Shouldn't be able to fire you.
09:41Shouldn't be able to decide what kind of health care you get or don't get.
09:45We need the kind of regulatory agencies that are going to sit in the inside of these hyperscale labs
09:51to keep folks protected.
09:53And ultimately we need to get thoughtful about what this all means even if you're not talking
09:57about the existential risk with AI.
09:59You're talking about the long-term consequences for the social contract itself.
10:02The ability to have a job in America.
10:05Data centers.
10:06The physical manifestation of this AI boom sitting in people's backyards being placed there
10:11often at the behest of corporations against the will of the people themselves.
10:15People need to know that their elected representatives are actually going to represent them.
10:19And it is a critical issue I talk about every day on the campaign.
10:23And it's emblematic of a single issue.
10:25Huge corporations that get to have their way with you without you being able to say a thing.
10:29And that's exactly what's been driving this moment in AI.
10:32And it's exactly what we need to do to take it on.
10:34I mean, addressing that is exactly what we need to do to take it on.
10:36Do you think the way that Congress functions today is capable of actually doing that?
10:40Yes, if Republicans decide to actually act on their own terms rather than just be yes-men for the president.
10:47And that's exactly what's wrong with Mike Rogers.
10:48The dude won't even show up to it.
10:50We had an empty podium debate.
10:52In 2026, guys run for Senate once before, won't even sit down because he does not want to be held
10:57accountable to his own ideas.
10:59So, so long as you're talking about people who would go through all this trouble to run for U.S.
11:03Senate to be yes-men to the president who will not ever second-guess with a guy they know to
11:09be a fool.
11:11Well, I don't know that we're going to be able to do anything.
11:12But if Congress people and senators actually want to act on their own accord, right, and stand up to the
11:21executive branch that's bullying them, then maybe we could actually get some stuff done.
11:25Are you actually meeting with Schumer today?
11:27I'm looking forward to a productive meeting.
11:28You are.
11:29Are you going to tell him, you know, to support him for later?
11:31I'm looking forward to a productive meeting because we need to win in the state of Michigan.
11:35And all of us understand that all pathways to a Senate majority run through Michigan.
11:40Are you going to campaign with Obama?
11:43Well, that's a question for the president.
11:44But, you know, we've had some really good conversations.
11:47And he is very excited about the possibility of this race.
11:50Are you going to do another campus tour with Son Piker?
11:53Yeah, I think that's it.
11:54No.
11:55He's not going to be part of the general.
11:56No.
11:56So, thank you all for the time.
11:57Appreciate it.
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